Current Affairs May 2020 - Environment

1 - Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles along Odisha coast

Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles began at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery, a major nesting site of these marine turtles. The newly born Olive Ridley turtles along the Odisha coast, made their journey back to sea.

Mother Olive Ridleys lay eggs in nests dug up in the beach sand. Each nest on average contains around 100 eggs. The eggs hatch in about 45 days. 3,23,063 mother Olive Ridley turtles nested this year at the major nesting

2 - 2019-20 census unveiled increase in Royal Bengal Tigers to 96

As per the 2019-20 census by the West Bengal’s forest department, the number of Royal Bengal Tigers in the Sunderbans has climbed to 96, up by eight from last year. The census was conducted between November, 2019 and January, 2020.

Highlights

• Sundarbans has mangrove cover in 2,125 sq km in India.
• The whole tract of forest reaches about 100-130 km inland.
• Out of 96 tigers, 23 were identified as male and 43 as female, while the sex of 30 big cats could not be determined.
• The survey unveiled the presence of 11 tiger cubs.

3 - India’s carbon emissions fall for first time in four decades

India has recorded a fall in CO2 emissions for the first time in four decades. Emissions dropped by around 1% in the fiscal year ending March 2020. The study finds that Indian carbon dioxide emissions fell 15% in March, and are likely to have fallen by 30% in April.

Coal-fired power generation was down 15% in March and 31% in the first three weeks of April. Oil consumption was down 18% year-on-year in March 2020. Renewable energy (RE) generation increased by 6.4% in March and saw a slight decrease of 1.4% in the first three weeks of April.

4 - Cyclone Amphan intensified into Super Cyclonic Storm

Cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in West Bengal and Odisha. Cyclone Amphan turned in to a "super cyclonic storm". Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan is a very powerful and deadly tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage over East India and Bangladesh in May 2020.

Amphan moved with a speed of 7 kms per hour and created havoc over west-central and adjoining central parts of South Bay of Bengal. It had maximum sustained wind speed of 165 to 175 kilometres per hour gusting to 185 kmph.

5 - “Troglomycestwitteri” new species discovered

A new species of microscopic fungus dubbed “Troglomycestwitteri” was discovered by a biologist in Denmark. The fungi was found on the surface of the millipede. The discovery was confirmed by Millipede specimens from the Muséum national d’Histoirenaturelle in Paris. The researchers spotted an image of a millipede while scrolling through Twitter.

Troglomycestwitteri belongs to tiny fungal parasites that attack insects and millipedes and look like tiny larvae. These fungi live on the reproductive organs of millipedes.

6 - Western Ghats to be declared Ecologically Sensitive Area

Union Minister of Environment interacted with Chief Ministers of six states viz, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to discuss issues relating to notification of Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) pertaining to Western Ghats.

To conserve and protect the bio diversity of Western Ghats while allowing for sustainable and inclusive development of the region, Government of India had constituted a High Level Working Group under the Chairmanship of Dr. Kasturirangan. The Committee had recommended that identified geographical areas falling in the six States may be declared as Ecologically Sensitive Areas.

7 - New Fresh water fish “Punitus Sanctus” found

A new fresh water fish called Punitus Sanctus was found in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu. Punitus is a species of fish that are commonly found in the drains of western and eastern ghats and also in Eastern Himalayas. Sanctus means ‘holy’ in Latin.

The fish was silver in colour. It grows to a maximum length of 7 cm. It has an extended mouth. The Punitus belongs to the family of Cyprindae. Cyprindae is a family of fresh water fish.